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But other Democratic insiders said that Hoyer can assemble a winning coalition based on the remaining 20-plus Blue Dogs, Northeastern lawmakers, junior members and those Democrats who didn’t want Pelosi to return as minority leader in order to come out on top.

“As majority leader, Hoyer has been a pillar of strength for members of the 111th Congress, and I fully support him for Democratic whip,” said Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) in a statement Friday. “He played a key role in passing health care reform, and his support from a wide array of Democrats will help unite our caucus as we tackle difficult issues such as job creation and reforming our nation’s education system.”

A source familiar with the House Blue Dogs said the preference for Hoyer is about having a voice in Democratic leadership and has nothing to do with Clyburn, with whom some Blue Dogs are close.

“If [Hoyer] gets pushed out, there will be no unifying force for the caucus,” the source said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if members just stopped talking to leadership altogether.”

Hoyer, 71, was first elected to the House in 1980 after serving more than 13 years in the Maryland state Senate. After Michigan Rep. David Bonior retired as minority whip in 2001, Hoyer took on Pelosi for the job but was soundly defeated. When Pelosi moved up to minority leader after the retirement of Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt the following year, Hoyer took over the whip job. When Democrats seized control of the House in 2006, Hoyer beat back a challenge from the late Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania to become majority leader.

The garrulous Hoyer has developed a good working relationship with Pelosi, despite the bitter history between the two senior Democrats. But those close to the Maryland Democrat said even he was surprised by her decision to stay on as minority leader

Clyburn, 70, served for 18 years as South Carolina human affairs commissioner before being elected to the House in 1992. A veteran of the civil rights movement, Clyburn became Democratic Caucus chairman in 2005 and then moved up to majority whip after the 2006 Democratic takeover.

Readers' Comments (72)

Y'know, I would have bet just about any amount of money that Granny Rictus McBotox Implants would have quit Congress entirely. Wow. I sure wish I was a fly on the walls of major Dem donors and strategists right now. I'm guessing there's just a LITTLE bit of vitriol right now. Pass the popcorn, baby!

Nancy Pelosi seems dedicated to getting the caucas down to 100 because that is exactly what will happen if she sticks around- To Republicans, this is the gift that keeps on giving- Would someone take Pelsosi back to a woodshed and beat the daylights out of her until she comprehands what she is doing to the Party

I sure wish I was a fly on the walls of major Dem donors and strategists right now

The moderates of the Dem Party when down big time in swing districts during the election. In general, all that's left are Progressive Lefty types (the same nincompoops who pushed the House to consider Cap and Trade before the job situation was adequately dealth with) and the major donors of the Party tend to fall in that group.

This seriously might be the third post in a row that I've written something along the lines of, "Are they out of their minds?" Is the Democratic Party polarized along party lines to the point where they HAVE to make Nancy Pelosi House Minority Leader? Guess so. It's as if they don't have an actual choice, but really, they do. Then look down the hierarchy and there just has to be a fight for Minority Whip between James Clyburn and Steny Hoyer. Wow. There is not much use for a political party if they aren't implemented the correct. To them it's all about electability and their positions in caucuses. They really need to be held accountable for their actions. The midterms were a start.

Some choice, old civil rights leader that still blames "whitey" for all his troubles, even though he is very rich, Hoyer who buys his votes, and Pelosi who robs the gov of billions to take back to CA who thinks the other 49 owe them something.l

Why not some young blood? Oh, I forgot, obama wants to continue killing off the dem party.

I'm glad Nancy Pelosi is running for Minority Leader, as she is their best and that is near-great. Oh, how the sexist Republicans are howling over her move! You'd think they'd be content now that she is no longer Speaker, but no, their deeply rooted sexism will give them no peace. Just as their racism make their lives waking nightmares while Barack Obama is our president, so their sexism gives them no peace as long as Nancy Pelosi is a major public leader. In both cases many of them can honestly say they have nothing against women and people of mixed race, but they have to add the qualifier: "as long as they know and keep in their places." To the sexist, woman's primal place is in the home: most fundamentally, on her naked back, legs spread. Afterwards, she is to be the loving, happy, tireless servant to the head of the house, man, and to look after the brood she gives birth to as a result of the sex. They hate the thought that women, like men, may have a spiritual, moral, and political calling in life. The sexist materialists hate it even more that there are women in the world who have more money, power, influence, and social prestige than themselves. Nancy, being so prominent and public, becomes the embodiment of everything that has gone wrong in their sexist world. Barack serves as world-destroyer of their racist world. It is a nightmare from which they are desperate to wake. This is why they shrilly scream, "We want our country back!" The tea partiers reflect blatantly what the sexist, racist Republican Party cannot -- at least not and get away with it. The tea partier men don their powdered wigs, their frilly shirts and hose and buckled shoes, grab their muskets and play-act their nostalgic fantasy of a world long gone, a sexist, racist world where women can't vote and people of a certain pigmentation are enslaved. I'm glad Nancy and Barack will be prominently displayed reminders that it is a new world, a good world, and I trust they will keep their hands extended to the old-world clingers in invitation to join us.

sammy999: "To Republicans, this is the gift that keeps on giving-" --------I feel your pain. She covets the power of political position. Her continued media presence as the face of the democrats in the House for the next two years is priceless.

Why does Nasty Pelosi consider herself a shoo-in for leader? Pitting members of her own party against each other to advance herself is trashy, AND EXPECTED! Pelosi learned well from Obama. Look at how many members of his own party Obama threw under the bus to further his and Soros's agenda. There ought to be a law against stupidly.